06/12/23 - Regular Episode
Good morning! It’s Monday, June 12th. National Loving Day!
On this day in 1967, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Mildred and Richard Loving and made interracial marriage legal in all 50 states.
Writing for the majority, Chief Justice Warren said this: “Under our Constitution, the freedom to marry or not marry, a person of another race resides with the individual and cannot be infringed by the State.”
What a time, the Warren Court was. What a great, great, time.
And now, the news.
Before we get into the first story…. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I will never leave you again. There was so much news, while I took one little break, that there will be two episodes of the show being released today. So if you’re hearing this, make sure you subscribe to this show and check your feed, because there should be another episode in it.
This episode will cover the baker’s dozen worth of headlines that came out while I was trying to do other stuff. The others episode, however, has one topic. I wonder if you can guess what it is…
But in the meantime, let’s get into it. There are a LOT of stories to cover, so I’ll do my best to be efficient but thorough – if that makes sense.
PGA-LIV Merger
In a stunning announcement, the PGA (that’s golf) has merged with the Saudi-backed LIV Golf League. The PGA, which was formally a nonprofit (which is absolutely bonkers to me), merged with LIV and DP World Tour, to form one entity that is partly backed financially by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund – which is led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. As you hopefully recall, the Crown Prince, also known as MBS, ordered the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018. Saudi Arabia has also been at the center of recent human rights abuses, including a crackdown on women’s rights activists in 2019 as well as mass executions of imprisoned civilians, also in 2019.
So… it’s not the very best merger.
Also, a lot of PGA players previously turned down millions of dollars from LIV, in order to stay on the right side of human rights. And now they’re just – stuck with them anyway.
Congressional critics are looking for a way to break up the deal.
SAG-AFTRA Approves Strike Vote
-via SAG-AFTRA & Hollywood Reporter
While the writers’ strike continues on, the actors guild, SAG-AFTRA, has voted 97.1% in favor of their own strike. If they can’t make a deal with the AMPTP, the actors will strike after their contract expires on June 30th.
Meanwhile, the director’s guild has struck a tentative deal with the AMPTP, though a highly contested ratification vote will still need to take place and there is no date set for that vote yet.
Union solidarity is the way forward, my friends.
Also, the Tony Awards were last night. I didn’t watch them because I’m classless and only know Hamilton, Legally Blonde: The Musical, and Evita. But they were done without writers so… here’s hoping it’s a mess because you can’t do anything without writers.
Canadian Wildfires
There is rain in the forecast for eastern Canada, which will hopefully provide some much needed relief for the hundreds of wildfires still burning across our northern neighbor’s land.
Smoke from the fires has come into the states, flowing as south as Jacksonville, Florida.
And before anyone tries to say anything about it – it’s Canadian smoke. So, it’s still as rough on the lungs, but you know it feels terrible about it. It does appear, however, that the air quality is improving from the hazardous conditions of last week.
Matt Gaetz Investigation Reopened
via Punchbowl
The House Ethics Committee has restarted their investigation into Matt Gaetz, though they haven’t decided yet if they’ll move forward with a special investigative committee. As a reminder, this is an investigation into whether he sex-trafficked underage girls. He says he’s innocent. Meanwhile his longtime friend and ally pled guilty.
The Ethics Committee deferred to the Department of Justice, which didn’t charge him. Which means the Ethics Committee is able to do their thing. (Their thing being an investigation, should they be so inclined)
George Santos Stays On Brand
-via CNN
Remember when George Santos was indicted on fraud and money crimes back in May? Do you also remember that he was released on a $500,000 bond? Well according to a new court filing, the co-signers on that bond are family members. Just… don’t ask who! Because Santos’ lawyers filed an appeal on Friday to keep the names of those who signed the bond a sneaky secret, after a federal judge ordered them to be made public.
The filing states, “The suretors are family members and not lobbyists, donors or others seeking to exert influence over the Defendant.” To which we all we like… we didn’t say that. But now that YOU’VE said it… and because you lie all the time… maybe they are, in face, others seeking to exert influence over the Defendant?
When asked why it’s a secret, Santos said, and I’m not kidding: “because it is.”
Incredible.
Unibomber and Pat Robertson Are Dead
The Unibomber and Pat Robertson both died last week.
The Unibomber was 81 and died by suicide. Robertson was 93.
“Wow Kim. I can’t believe you put them both in the same story.”
Listen, when you don’t have anything nice to say, just give some facts:
The unibomber killed three people and injured 23 more during a mass mail-bombing spree that spanned 17 years.
Pat Robertson blamed gay people for 9/11, said the Haitians deserved the 2010 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed a quarter million people, and believed feminists were evil.
So you tell me if I needed to do a little woosh between the two.
Newsom Proposes 28th Amendment
-via Official Statement
On Thursday, California’s Governor Newsom proposed a 28th Amendment to enshrine four gun safety principles into the Constitution. Per the announcement, the Amendment would:
· Raise the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm from 18 to 21
· Mandate universal background checks
· Institute a reasonable waiting period for all gun purchases; and
· Bar civilian purchase of assault weapons
Passing an amendment requires a Constitutional Convention, which can only happen if 2/3 of the states (or 34 states) call for it. So… this one’s gonna take a minute, but we have to do something.
I-95 Collapse
-via USA Today
A tanker fire caused an elevated portion of Philidelphia’s I-95 to collapse on Sunday, causing all lanes to be shut down.
Governor Shapiro says all the fire is out, and although at least one car is still trapped as of this recording, there have been no immediate reports of injuries.
SCOTUS Rules on VRA
-via SCOTUS Blog
And finally, the Supreme Court made an unexpected, but in a good way (which, in itself, is unexpected) ruling on Thursday. I’m going to get into it tomorrow (because this episode is so long already!), but I’m also getting into it all over the We Are Voters social media. So if you haven’t yet, head over to wearevoters.org to find links to all of our social media so you can see what I’m running my mouth about over there.
And that’s it. That’s the news!
Most of it!
As I mentioned, there is another episode of the news, also out now, with one big story. But this was all I could fit into here.
I’m proud of… so much. So many people! So many things! It’s international falafel day, that’s fun. It’s also international jerky day.
But more than that… more than the salmon jerky from Trader Joe’s that they don’t carry anymore but I loved it and I would eat it at work but they would make me eat it outside because it smelled like fish… because you are also tolerant of a lot but perhaps not so much when it comes to unpleasant scent-scapes… I’m proud of you.